Learning Curve
by StrangeIsNotACrime
Summary: When an old friend of Maura's approaches her with a huge favour, she has a lot of thinking to do. What will she decide? And how will it affect her relationship with Jane? Eventual Rizzles.
1. An Unexpected Phone Call

**Hey guys :D This is my first (posted) Rizzoli and Isles fic so I****'****m a little new here. I don****'****t think I****'****ve stolen this idea. If I have, sorry. I tend to walk on the Mentalist side. I fell in love with this programme from the first time I watched it - How could you not? I had this idea buzzing round my head for a while and I eventually got round to writing it. It****'****s set after 3x10 but where Lydia didn****'****t leave her baby (because kids just get in the way) so I guess it****'****s slightly AU. Everything else happened though. So here goes, I really hope you enjoy it :D **

**Also, before I start, I need to thank two very important people. **

**First of all - To StephB who proofread, encouraged and put up with me - I love you! **

**Second - To RigspeltLover who never fails to make me laugh and has been bursting with excitement waiting for this story - Here you go, enjoy :D **

**Oh yeah, disclaimer. I own nothing. **

Jane yawned as she flopped down onto Maura's sofa, beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other. She flicked on the sports channel to find a Red Sox game in mid course. Her attention suddenly peeked; ten seconds previously she had been ready to sleep for three days. They had just cracked a difficult and exhausting case and all she wanted was to drift off and dream about rainbows and unicorns. Anything to make her forget the body of the twelve year old girl they'd found four days ago. But if she couldn't have rainbows and unicorns, the Sox would suffice.

'Janie, come help me with dinner.'

'Ma, come on, I'm shattered.'

'Don't make me middle name you.'

Jane winced. 'Alright, alright.' She took a swig of beer, heaved herself off the sofa and went to join her mother in the kitchen. The heavenly smell of her grandmother's ravioli recipe filled the room and Jane felt her stomach rumble. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.

'Oooh, that smells amazing.' Maura's voice came from behind them. 'Need a hand?'

'Thank you Maura, you're a sweetheart. Jane and I can manage but if you'd like to lay the table..'

'Of course, my pleasure.'

'See, why can't you be like her?' Angela mumbled to Jane while Maura was busy setting out plates and cutlery.

'Because I wasn't born with a silver spoon up my ass.' Jane mumbled back, earning a dig in the ribs from her mother. 'Sorry I'm not perfect.'

'Aw Janie, I wouldn't swap what I have, you know that. Come on, drain this for me.'Jane grinned and kissed her mother on the cheek before doing as she was told. She secretly loved the banter that they had, even though she pretended to find it annoying.

Maura had just finished laying the table when the phone rang. She frowned; usually when her phone rang, Jane's did at the same time. She dug around in her pocket as Angela dished up the dinner, and answered.

'Hello? - Cass, hey.. - I'm well thank you, how are you? - Good. And James? - Again? That's excellent, Cass.. - Yeah, coffee sounds great. When? - Tomorrow at eleven? - Wonderful, see you then. Can't wait.. - And you.. - Bye.. -'

Maura tucked her phone back into the pocket of her jeans and joined her friends at the table, not noticing that they were staring at her until she looked up to ask Jane for the pepper.

'Why are you staring at me? Oh my God, there's something on my face, isn't there?'

Jane grinned as Maura desperately tried to wipe the imaginary mark off her face. 'No, Maura. We were just wondering who this Cass is, and why the two of you are meeting for coffee tomorrow?'

'Oh. Cassandra is an old friend, we met at boarding school and never really lost touch.'

'Old flame?' Jane raised one eyebrow suggestively, shovelling a forkful of food into her mouth.

'Don't be so juvenile. No, Cassie was my best.. And only, I guess.. Friend when I was at boarding school. We stayed in contact through college and while I was at medical school and we met again during Médecins Sans Frontières.'

'She's a doctor too?'

'No, she doesn't work. Her husband's a very successful lawyer. He provides everything she needs.'

'Well, yippee for her.'

'Janie, shut up.' Angela rolled her eyes at her daughter. 'Sorry Maura, carry on.'

Maura took a sip of water from her glass. 'She was doing humanitarian work out in Senegal when we saw each other again.'

'I thought you were in Ethiopia? With Ian?'

'I spent eight months in Ethiopia and then five in Senegal. Ian went to Nigeria while I was in Senegal. Luckily, Cassie was there when I arrived.'

'Huh. You two still close?'

'Not so much recently. We don't see each other a lot but we call now and then. I don't think I've seen her since she and James got married a couple of years ago.'

'Why did she want to meet for coffee tomorrow then?'

'I have no idea Jane, she just said there was something she wanted to discuss with me.'

'Like what?'

'Stop being so nosy,' Angela scolded. 'She doesn't have to give you every little detail of her life, Jane. Now help me wash up.'

'Ma, please-'

'It's alright, Jane, I'll do it.' Maura stood up, collecting up the plates. 'You go sit down. You too, Angela. Let me take care of it.'

'Thanks, Maur.'

Angela scowled at her daughter. 'Honestly Jane. It's okay Maura, I'll help-'

'Angela, sit. I'll do it. You do more than enough for me, now let me do this.'

'Well, thank you.' Angela smiled and sat down with her daughter, who was already watching the rest of the Sox game on the screen.

'You still don't want to swap me for Maura?' Jane whispered, a slight grin on her face.

Angela slipped her hand into Jane's, surprised when she didn't pull away. 'Not for the world.'


	2. The Proposal

**So you came back for more, huh? I'm impressed. **

**Reviews would be very welcome, huge thank you to those who have done so already. **

**Own nothing. **

Maura tucked her hair behind her ear as she stepped into the coffee house where they had agreed to meet. Of course, she always cared about her appearance but even more so today. Although she and Cassandra had been brought up with the same kind of culture, she felt as though she was at a slight disadvantage to her friend, class wise. Cassandra had married well and was settling down. She presumed they were at least considering having children by now. Maura had occasionally wished that life for herself but her work was far more important to her. Still, she felt like Cassandra would look down at her for being 36 and nowhere near getting married. She glanced around the bar and smiled as a flash of red hair caught her eye. Her friend was sat in a booth, dressed smartly as ever, with her auburn hair neat and make up flawless. Maura quickly adjusted her hair again and headed over.

'Cassie..'

The woman looked up and smiled. 'Maura, look at you. You look so well. How are you?'

'I'm good thanks, what about yourself?'

'I'm excellent, thank you.' Cassandra stood up and kissed her friend once on each cheek before wrapping her in a tight embrace. 'I missed you so much.'

'I missed you too. It's been far too long.'

'Definitely.' The pair slid into the booth together. 'I have a coffee order on the way.

Don't worry, I remembered exactly how you take it.'

'Really?'

'Well, you'll find out when it comes. So how's work?'

'It's great, yeah. We just cracked a really big case.'

'That's good. You know, I never really understood why you went into medicine. I always thought you'd be famous or something, yeah, but not for solving crimes and publishing papers.'

Maura frowned. 'What did you expect me to do then?'

'I thought you'd be a dancer or something, touring with the Royal Ballet all over the world. You always loved to dance.'

'I did, but I don't think I could have done it professionally. It would have been nice for a while but dancers are so bitchy.'

'So are you.'

'I'm not that bad.. Well, maybe a little. But I wouldn't have gotten on very well with those girls. Plus it just wouldn't be as rewarding. This is what I love and I wouldn't give it up for anything.'

'Fair enough. You were always passionate about medicine. I don't suppose I'll ever

understand the fascination.'

'I'm not sure I will either.'

They smiled and thanked the waiter as he placed their coffees in front of them. Maura took a hesitant sip of hers.

'Mmm, that's perfect. How did you remember?'

'How could I forget?'

'I know, but you even remembered the spoon.'

'After all the grief you used to give me?'

Maura blushed. 'I like spoons.'

'Whatever floats your boat.'

The two women spent a good half an hour discussing their time together at boarding school and the laughs they'd shared. They kept well away from their time in Ethiopia, for reasons only they knew. Eventually, Cassandra sighed and decided to give Maura the real reason for their meet up.

'Look, Maura, I can't wait any longer. There's something I need to ask you.'

'Oh, right. Well, go on then.'

'Don't rush me. You see.. James and I, we've been trying for a baby for a long time now..'

'Oh, Cass, that's fantastic.' Maura beamed but Cassandra held up a hand.

'No, it's not. I got pregnant three months ago-'

'And you didn't tell me?'

'I had a miscarriage at nine weeks. I'd only known for two weeks before I lost it. The doctors who examined me have told us that my uterus won't ever be able to hold a child to term. My eggs are fine and so is James' sperm, it's just my uterus.'

'I'm so sorry, Cassie. That must be terrible. Have you considered other options?'

'Of course we have. We ruled out adoption pretty quickly. We talked about all sorts but we decided we'd like to try surrogacy.'

'Oh.. Wow.. Where do you intend to find someone willing to carry your baby?'

Cassandra looked up from her coffee and into the eyes of her best friend. She said nothing, just let it sink into Maura's mind.

'Me?'

'Who else?'

'You want me to..? Oh dear God, no.. I mean.. You'd trust me to..? No, I..'

'It'd be fine. I mean, I understand if you don't want to, but..'

'Cass, you know I'd do anything for you, but I have to think about this.'

'Of course, I completely understand. But James and I have done so much thinking ourselves and we can't think of anyone better to do this for us. We'd make sure you were okay for everything, you know, money and that for your maternity leave. We'll even bring you a giant greasy hamburger at three in the morning if that's what you're going to need.'

Maura closed her eyes and rubbed her left temple. 'Cass, you've just dropped the biggest bombshell I've ever heard on me. I think I was less shocked when my mother told me I was adopted. Give me a couple of days to process this and to make a decision, okay? I need some time.'

'Yeah, of course..' Cassandra looked back down at her coffee, stirring it with her coffee stirrer.

'Cassie, I'm not saying no. All I'm saying is that I need to think before I agree to anything..'

'Maura, it's okay. James and I are completely fine with whatever you decide. I know it's a hard decision and I know that if you decide to do it, it's going to be difficult. But no matter what you choose to do, you'll always be my best friend and I'll always love you. If you say yes, great. We'll be there for anything you need. If you say no, it's not a problem. There's other options. We'll make it work. Okay?'

Maura reached out and took her friend's hand in hers. 'Thank you, Cass. I'm honoured that you even considered me to do this for you.'

'Who else? I don't know anyone as reliable and stable as Maura Isles.'

'Stable? Really?'

'Well, you are now. You _are _stable now, right?'

'Yeah, course.' _Apart from the fact that I nearly died three weeks ago_, she thought to herself.

'Good. So.. What have I missed since we last spoke? It's been, what? Six months?'

Maura bit her lip to repress a smile. She contemplated all the things she could tell Cassandra. The fact that her best friend had shot her biological father and their horrendous fight and eventual make up, how she'd found her birth mother and confessed what she knew, only to be rejected by Hope and her daughter. She'd met a guy, Dennis, and had almost been charged with tagging. The aforementioned guy had then abandoned her and returned three months later to kill several woman before trying to kill her, which he would have succeeded in doing had her best friend and the team not saved her life. She had been ten minutes away from being turned into a statue, for goodness sakes. Or should she tell Cassandra how she and Jane had had to keep a terrible secret from Jane's mother, a secret that had nearly torn the Rizzoli family apart and had almost resulted in Maura losing the closest thing to the mother she'd always dreamed of?

'No, nothing particularly exciting. You?'


	3. Tough Love

**Still own nothing, reviews still welcome. Thanks to those who have reviewed ****J**

'You said you'd do WHAT?!'

'I said I'd think about-'

'You're considering it? What the hell is wrong with you?'

'Jane, please. Calm down for a second and let me-'

'No, I won't calm down. You-'

'I can't say no, Jane. My hands are tied. I have to do this.'

'Why?'

'Because I owe her everything.'

Jane looked shocked; she certainly hadn't expected to hear that and from the look on Maura's face, she hadn't intended on disclosing it.

'What are you talking about?'

'Never mind,' Maura said slowly, recovering herself. 'She helped me out when we were younger and I owe her for that. That's all.'

'Surely there's other ways to repay somebody?'

'Well, this is how I'm repaying her.'

'By having her husband's baby?'

'It's _their _baby, Jane. Her eggs, his sperm, my uterus. They give me the ingredients

and I cook it up for them.'

'Oh, good Lord. Couldn't you do something less risky?'

'Jane, gestational surrogacy is perfectly-'

The detective scoffed. 'Because of course, you know so much about it.'

'Of course I do, I'm a doctor.' Maura replied indignantly. 'Jane, I'm not rushing into this. I've told her I'd take some time to think it through and then I'd come back to her with a decision.'

'You're going to get hurt.'

'No Jane, I'm going to give my friend the most precious gift of all. I don't understand why you're being so harsh.'

'Maybe because I don't want to see you fall apart if something goes wrong. And what about that kid?'

'The _child _will have two parents who love him or her very much.'

'It's going to grow up not knowing where it came from. I thought you of all people would understand that.'

Maura's jaw dropped. 'I can't believe you.. Jane, my situation was totally different. I was adopted because my biological parents couldn't take care of me. Yes, it was hard and yes, I spent a long time not knowing who I was but this baby won't have that issue. It'll have their DNA, the only difference will be that someone else gave birth to it. They'll still be his biological parents. I can't believe you'd even compare my childhood to that. It's completely different.'

'Yeah, because their parents would actually want them..'

Both Maura and Jane stared at each other in pure shock; neither could believe that Jane had said that.

'Oh, God.. Maura.. I'm so sorry, I-'

Jane didn't get to finish her sentence before Maura turned on her heel and left the room quickly. The dark haired woman could have sworn she heard a small sob as the door slammed shut. She made to follow her friend but footsteps from behind her made her stop.

'Hey, hey, hey! What's with all the yelling and door slamming?' Angela burst into the room, pyjama clad and her hair wrapped in a towel. 'Did you and Maura have a fight?'

Jane nodded and leant against the kitchen worktop, resting her elbows against the cool surface and putting her head in her hands. 'Yeah Ma, we had a fight.'

'Aw, well you'll make up again soon. You always do.'

'Mmm. I'm not sure this is something I can make up for easily.'

'Oh God, what have you done?'

'Oh Ma, I don't want to talk about it.'

'Uh oh.' Angela raised her eyebrows. 'You didn't shoot another one of her relatives, did you baby?'

'Ma!'

'Sorry, had to ask.'

'No, Ma, I didn't shoot anyone. I think that might have gone down better though.'

'That doesn't sound good.'

'It's not,' Jane said, sighing. 'I told her that her parents didn't want her.'

'Oh..'

Maura laid on her side, hugging her pillow close to her. She and Jane had had several fights in her time as friends, but Jane had never said anything like that to her before. She knew how sensitive Maura was when it came to discussing her childhood. How could she have said that? The honey blonde sighed and let a tiny tear escape from her eye but she wiped it on her pillow. She would not cry, no way. She would go downstairs in a while, she'd try and make things right with Jane and she'd have a civilised conversation about her dilemma. Hopefully.

She rolled onto her back and looked down at her toned stomach. A part of her panicked at the thought of her stomach growing and getting.. She could hardly think the word.. Fat. Just thinking it made her wince. Maura had always been slim and it felt strange to imagine what her body could look like in a few months. Cellulite, stretch marks.. She shuddered. She knew in detail about the effects of pregnancy on the body, both during and after, and she knew about the process the three would have to undergo to impregnate her. If she decided to do it, of course. She couldn't see a reason, on the surface, why she couldn't. She was in good health and she had an excellent support network. She had Cassandra and James, Angela, Jane..

Maura threw her pillow across the room and closed her eyes, moving back onto her side and curling up into a ball. She was drained; physically, mentally and emotionally. Her head was pounding and her mind was torn between her argument with Jane and her dilemma with Cassandra. She couldn't please everybody, she knew that. Although most of the time, in her mind, she felt more like she couldn't please anybody.

Her mind was churning. There was so much to think about, so much to take in and so many decisions. One voice in her head told her to call Cassandra and say yes, another told her to say no, one told her to go and hug Jane and make it all okay and a tiny voice told her to never speak to Jane again. The voices merged into an unbearable buzzing; the pain in her head was increasing and every part of her body was screaming at her to get some rest. But she couldn't, not yet.

Maura Isles had never felt so conflicted in her life.

'Hang on.. Let me get this straight.. You went off on one at her because she told you she was going to have her friend's baby?'

Jane rolled her eyes. Her mother always phrased things so well. 'Pretty much, yeah.'

'And you didn't give any indication that you'd support her or be there for her?'

'No, I didn't.'

Angela shook her head. 'You're an idiot.'

'Thanks Ma, I love you too.'

'Janie, come on, why would you say something like that to her? She's done nothing wrong. Okay, I know it's strange and of course I'm worried, but.. All she's trying to do is help out her friend.'

'I know, but what if she gets hurt? Seriously Ma, you really think she's going to be

happy to let that baby go to someone else after she's carried it for nine months?'

Her mother sighed and patted her daughter's shoulder. 'Maybe you should go ask Maura that.'

'Huh? No, Ma, come on. It's barely been fifteen minutes. I should give her time to

cool off.'

'Jane Rizzoli, you march yourself upstairs now and you apologise to your best friend. I understand how you feel, Janie, but she needs your help right now and if you're not there for her in the time when she needs you the most, you're going to feel awful later. Now do as you're told.'

Jane mock saluted her mother before heading up the stairs to Maura's room. The climb up those stairs had never felt so long to her. She paused outside, took a deep breath, and prepared herself to face the wrath she expected to lie on the other side of the door.


	4. Tears, Fears And A Whole Lotta Love

**Hey guys, welcome to chapter four. Sorry, this one's a bit rushed and barely pieced together. Hope you like. **

**Own nothing =( **

'Maura? Maura, can I talk to you?'

Maura opened her eyes despite the pain in her head. She didn't even have the energy to respond properly. 'Mmm.'

Jane pushed open the door gingerly and found her best friend curled up on her bed. She looked like she had after Dennis had tried to kill her- broken, hurt and scared. It pained her to see the usually strong and collected Doctor Maura Isles in this state. It pained her even more to know that she'd partially been the cause of this.

'Maura, I'm really sorry for what I said. I.. I was a jerk.'

'Yeah, you were.'

'I know.. It was stupid, I didn't think-'

'Forget it,' the blonde woman mumbled into her pillow. 'You were just angry.'

'No, come on, I said something terrible. You can't just let that-'

'I said, forget it!'

Jane flinched. Maura had never snapped at her like that before.

'Okay.. Sorry.. You want me to go?'

'No.' Her voice was softer this time and Jane could see the tears in her eyes as she looked up. 'I want you to tell me that you'll support me no matter what. I want you to say you still love me even though I'm a pain in the ass, I want you to help me decide what to do, I want you to hold me and tell me it's all going to be okay. And I want you to stop my head hurting.'

Jane bit her lip to repress a smile at the last comment. 'If I do all of that, will you forgive me for being such a bitch?'

'We'll see.'

'Then it'd be my pleasure, Doctor Isles. Come here..' She sat on the bed and gently helped Maura sit up, guiding her into her arms. She wrapped her friend in a warm embrace and whispered gently into her ear.

'Maura Isles, I promise you that if you decide to do this for your friend, then I'm going to be there every step of the way. Whatever it is. Doctor's appointments, birthing classes, letting you break my hand when you have contractions, taking less time in the shower so you can pee when you need to, buying you jars of peanut butter to go with your _mal de mer_..'

Despite the exaggerated French accent Jane had put on for the last few words, the blonde woman frowned. 'My seasickness?'

'Um.. Yes.' Jane grinned. 'That's exactly what I meant... Maura, I'll support you 100%, no matter what. Everything's going to be just fine, okay? I wouldn't let you do this alone. You're my best friend, I love you and I always will. Nothing's ever going to change that. Even though you're a pain in the ass.'

Maura giggled weakly and Jane felt tears soaking her shirt. 'How's your headache now?'

'Better, thank you.'

'Good. I can't make the decision for you though, Maura. You're the one who's going to be going through it all. I can help you rationalise or whatever but I can't tell you want to do.'

'Why not? Please..'

'No. You know why? Because this is possibly the most important decision you'll ever make. You're a strong, independent woman and this, more than anything, is something you need to decide for yourself. You've made a lot of tough choices in your life, Maura, and this one isn't going to be any easier. But I know you'll make the right decision in the end.'

Maura smiled. 'Thank you Jane. I needed to hear that. You really are an amazing friend.'

'I wouldn't go that far. But if I've made you feel better at all, then I'm happy.'

'Well, you have.'

'Good.' Jane kissed her friend's head softly. 'Try and get some sleep, okay? You look exhausted. Have a think later. You've got time, Maura. You don't have to do this now. Sleep.'

Maura didn't need telling twice. She let Jane slide her under the covers and tuck her in. With the pain in her head eased and her thoughts clearer, she found herself much more comfortable. She was asleep before Jane closed the door behind her.

'Hey sweet pea, how'd it go?'

'Yeah, it was good. We're okay now.'

'That's good. I knew you'd make it up. She okay?'

'She's stressing. I calmed her down a bit. She's asleep now.'

Angela nodded and sat down on the sofa, patting the seat next to her. 'Come here, Janie.'

Jane sat down apprehensively. 'Oh God, are you going to be affectionate?'

'Maybe.' The older woman smiled. 'I just wanted to talk to you about something.'

'I hate it when you say that.'

'It's nothing to worry about, Jane.'

'I hate it when you say that too.'

Angela rolled her eyes. 'Are you going to listen to me or not?'

'Sorry Ma.'

'Okay. Look.. I know you're going to say I'm being nosy and I should stay out of your business, but I can't help noticing.. Well, you and Maura seem.. I don't know, closer.. Lately..'

Jane raised her eyebrows. 'You what?'

'Oh God, you're actually going to make me ask. Jane, is there anything going on between you and Maura?'

'Ma, what the hell?' Jane stood up. 'Why would you even ask me that?'

'Because I've seen the way you look at her.'

'What?'

'And I've seen the way she looks at you. I'm your mother, Jane. I can tell these things.'

Jane considered arguing. She considered screaming at her mother, insisting that it wasn't true, telling her it was stupid and that she should stay out of her business. But after everything they had all been through, she couldn't lie to her mother.

'Are you mad?' She asked quietly.

'Mad? Oh sweetheart, why would I be mad? Jane, I love you more than you could ever understand. You're my daughter. If she makes you happy, then I'm happy. Does she make you happy?'

Jane smiled. 'More than anything.'

'Do you love her?'

'Of course.'

'Have you told her?'

She looked down. 'No.'

Angela nodded. 'Well, I'm sure you'll tell her when you're ready.' She kissed her daughter's cheek. 'I love you, Jane.'

'Love you too, Ma. Thank you.'

'Just doing my job.'

Jane smiled as she left before collapsing onto the sofa. If today got anymore stressful, she might just end up in Maura's alcohol cabinet.


	5. Step On Up

**Thank you to all who have reviewed/fav'ed/followed, it means so much to me :D Still own nothing.**

Angela Rizzoli poured herself a glass of orange juice and sighed. She was still processing everything that had happened yesterday. She was sure that Jane and Maura was too but it was a lot to take in. The mother in her was desperate to interfere or at least try and help matters, but she decided that now might be a good time to accept Jane's warnings and keep her nose out of things. So despite her temptation, she had promised herself that last night's conversation with Jane would stay between them. She was certain that Maura felt the same but she couldn't say a word; if it backfired, Jane would never forgive her. So she would stop trying to play the Fairy Godmother or Cupid, but no one was going to stop her from being there for either of the girls, no matter what. They were both too important to her. Even though Maura wasn't her daughter, she felt a motherly love for her, more than she ever had for any of Jane's other friends. No child, in Angela's opinion, deserved to grow up the way Maura had. All those years, starved of motherly affection.. It broke her heart to think of it. She hardly knew anything about Maura's adoptive father but she presumed it was the same situation as it was with her mother- he was too focused on his work to be the kind of father his little girl had deserved.

'Morning Angela.'

'Hm?' Angela looked up at Maura, snapping out of her reverie. 'Morning, honey. You want some breakfast?'

'No thank you, I'm not that hungry.'

'How about a drink? Coffee, mango juice..?'

'Mango juice would be lovely, thank you.'

'My pleasure. You sit down and take it easy.'

Maura frowned but did as she was told. Something was definitely up. Angela was always sweet to her, of course, but she never sounded so..

'What's Jane been saying to you?'

'Nothing,' the woman said a little too quickly. 'I mean.. Well, she mentioned that you

were a little stressed..'

'She told you.'

'Well, no.. But.. Well, yeah. Sorry, I was being nosy and-'

'It's fine. I'm glad you know.'

'When do you plan on telling _your _parents?'

Maura groaned. 'I have no idea. What do I say? I can't just drop this bombshell on them and expect them to be okay with it?'

'Why not? Maura, you're their daughter. A parent doesn't stop loving their child, no matter what.'

'You don't know my parents.'

'You don't know the strength of a mother's love.'

The blonde cast her eyes down at the glass of mango juice in front of her. 'You're right, I don't. Well, I didn't. Until I saw you and the way you are with your children. It never really occurred to me that parents actually loved their children before then. The warmth and kindness you've shown me proved me wrong.'

Angela felt her heart twinge at Maura's words. 'Children are the most precious things in the world, Maura. If your parents don't see that they're blessed to have a daughter like you, someone so selfless, so funny and warm.. Well, then you've always got me.'

'Oh dear God, what the hell happened to you two?'

The two women looked round to find Jane standing at the front door, eyebrows raised and a grin on her face. Maura smiled.

'I know what I'm going to do. Could you pass me the phone please?'

'Do I look okay?'

'Maura, for the hundredth time, you look stunning. Now shut up.'

'They're going to be here any second..'

'And in the meantime, you need to breathe. It's going to be fine.'

'Promise?'

'I promise.'

'Okay.'

The doorbell rang loudly, making Maura jump. She was far too tense, she knew that.

But she couldn't find a way to make herself relax, not now. She smoothed down her dress, adjusted her hair and answered the door.

Cassandra and James Vaughn stood on her doorstep, as elegant a couple as ever. She could see within seconds that they were nervous too, their knuckles were turning white from holding each other's hands so hard.

'Cassie, James, please come in.' She stood back to let them through. 'This my friend, Jane Rizzoli and her mother, Angela.'

'Lovely to meet you both,' James acknowledged politely. Jane could tell straight away that he'd been born into money, but he didn't seem as rude or flashy as the Fairfields, the family she'd met a couple of years ago. Maybe not all of Maura's friends were stuck up snobs. He certainly didn't seem to have that 'holier-than-thou' attitude that Jane despised.

'You too, Mr Vaughn. It's so nice to meet Maura's friends from outside work.'

Maura gave her a momentary glare as she pulled out a hug with Cassandra. 'Would you like something to drink?'

Ten minutes later, the five were sat in Maura's living room. It was evident that the Vaughns were anxious; they both kept trying to break the tension but never quite getting there. Finally, Maura spoke up.

'I asked you over because I've made my decision..'

They both nodded and gripped each other's hands a little tighter.

'..And I've decided that if you want me to carry your baby for you, then I'd be honoured.'

Cassandra's face lit up. 'You'll do it?'

'I'll do it.'

The redhead beamed and flung her arms around Maura's neck. 'Maura, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!'

'My pleasure.'

'No Maura, honestly, I don't know how we can ever thank you enough. What you're doing for us is wonderful. We owe you.' James smiled and Maura knew that he'd never been more sincere in his life.'

'You don't owe me anything. Just.. Be good to him or her, okay?'

'Of course we will. Look, we'll sort out all the hospital appointments and that but we won't do anything without consulting you first. We just.. We want everything to go right so we don't have to try again and we want you to be as comfortable as possible with everything that's going to happen.'

'Honey, I'm a doctor. I know what's going to happen.'

'Providing all goes well.'

'Well, yes. The chances aren't as good as we'd like them to be but I've got a good feeling. This is going to happen for you, I'm going to do my best to ensure that.'

Jane smiled as she wanted her friend share the excitement with the pair. What Maura was doing was truly amazing and she could tell that the couple in front of her couldn't have been happier. This was her time to step up now. She wasn't thrilled with the situation but it was Maura's choice and she respected that. She would be there for her friend. Jane wasn't usually one to let her personal feelings cloud her judgement, or at least, she tried not to. This was one of those times. As she watched the smiles and laughter, she made a silent vow to Maura to never leave her side, no matter what.


	6. The Weight Of The World

**Hey all, nice to see you're still here :D Once again, massive thanks to everyone for your support. **

**Still don't own anything. Sucks, huh? **

The past eight weeks had practically flown by to Maura, Jane and the Vaughns. It had been eight weeks of injections, blood tests, examinations, tubes, STD tests, mock cycles and countless pills, not to mention the intensity of the emotions everyone was experiencing. There had been no rows as yet, although there had almost been one when James had suggested that Maura should spend her entire pregnancy resting at home rather than being at work. Jane had shot him a death glare so fierce that he had immediately changed the subject. There was no way in hell she was spending nine months with Dr Pike.

The previous week, the clinic had finally called them in to perform the procedure and this time, Maura had been instructed by the doctor to stay on bed rest for the rest of that day and for another 24 hours. Angela had made up a temporary bed for her on the sofa so she could stay downstairs during the day and insisted on waiting on her so the only time she had to move was to go to the bathroom. Not only that, but Jane had ordered her to stay off for a week and rest. Although she felt blessed to have people who took care of her so well, Maura wished she could get up and do something for herself. She wanted to make herself a cup of tea and have a long shower. She wanted to feed Bass and hug Jane and make her bed. Not necessarily in that order though. But at the same time, now that everything had been implanted in her, she didn't want to do anything to potentially jeopardise it. She sat up and took a sip of orange juice, wondering if she would be okay to take a walk later in the evening. And then it hit her.

She could be pregnant.

She lifted up her top and rubbed her taut stomach. What if it hadn't worked? What if she messed something up or did something she shouldn't do? What if she forgot to take the hormone pills or give herself the shots she needed to? What if something happened at work? What if she had a miscarriage?

The last thought made her feel sick to her stomach. Cassandra had suffered a miscarriage of her own. If the same thing happened to Maura now.. She wasn't sure if her friend would be able to cope. Both Cassandra and James had insisted that there was no pressure on her and if something went wrong, they wouldn't blame her, but Maura knew better. She knew her friend better than she thought and if anything happened to the baby because of something that Maura had done, their friendship would never be the same again. She couldn't take that risk, not after everything Cass had done for her.

She thought back to their time in Senegal. They had been as close as they had during the short time they had spent together at boarding school. They were just like the two blithe fifteen year olds they had once been. Not that they hadn't had their own individual demons to contend with but had been as close as they could be. Then everything had changed that terrible night.. Even Cassandra didn't know the full details but she knew more than she'd ever told anybody in her life. More than she cared for anyone to know.

Two hours later, Jane, Angela and the Vaughns were waiting anxiously in Maura's living room. Maura herself had been sent to take a pregnancy test. Angela and James sat on the sofa whilst Jane and Cassandra paced the floor anxiously.

'Janie, come on, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet. Sit down.'

'I'll sit down when you stop drumming your fingers.'

'I'm nervous, okay?'

'Yeah, well so am I. My best friend's currently finding out if she's pregnant or not.'

'What are you getting so nervous for? These two are the ones who should be nervous.'

'They _are _nervous. You can see they're nervous.'

'Can you guys _please _stop saying the word nervous?' James rubbed his forehead and clasped his hands under his chin.

'Sorry, pal.' Jane flopped down into the armchair. 'Everyone's just a bit on edge.'

'Tell me about it.'

After another few minutes of tense silence, Maura appeared in the doorway. Her face was pale and her legs were shaking. The four stood up, the Vaughns holding hands.

'And?' Jane and Cassandra asked in unison, both pairs of eyes lighting up. Maura's, however, did not.

'It's negative.'

'Negative?'

'Cass, I'm so sorry..'

'No, I..' Cassandra blinked hard. 'It's not like there was ever a good chance.. I mean..

We can try again, right? If you're still up for it, of course.'

'Yeah, of course. Anyway, it could be wrong. Or maybe we didn't wait long enough.'

Cassandra shook her head. 'Maura, don't. We should go. I'll, uh.. I'll call you in the week..'

'Cass, wait!'

But Cassandra and James had already gone. Maura watched silently as the front door closed behind them. She could feel Angela and Jane's pity, it practically radiated out from them. Her legs felt as though they were about to give way and she had to hold onto the arm of the sofa to keep herself upright.

Jane and Angela looked at each other and instantly could tell that they were thinking the same thing. How could Maura not be pregnant? They had done everything right, she hadn't done anything that she shouldn't have done and the Vaughns had paid a fortune for it. It _had _to be positive.

But it wasn't.

'Maura..'

'Don't, Jane. Please.'

'It wasn't your fault.'

'I know.'

'So why are you-?'

Jane was cut off by her phone ringing, the same time as Maura's. She sighed and pulled it out of her pocket.

'Rizzoli-'

'Dr Isles-'

'-Okay, I'll be right there.'

'-I'm on my way.'

Both women put their phones away simultaneously, grabbed their jackets and headed towards the door. Maura didn't even stop to say goodbye to Angela.

This one was going to take some healing.

**Bombshell? Don't worry guys, it's going to be okay. Please spare a couple of minutes and leave a review if you're enjoying the story so far. **


	7. Breaking News

**Hello again! I know I left it in a bad way before, my bad. This is only a short chapter but it should straighten things out a little. Thanks to all reviewers, keep 'em coming guys :D **

**I did ask and no, I still don't own them. Meh. **

'Hey Maura, you got those results in yet?' Jane called out, stifling a yawn. After working all day with Dr Pike, she wasn't sure if the fact that she would have Maura tonight made up for the fact that she was back at work two hours after she had left. It must be a full moon.

She almost wished Maura hadn't gone in. She had had to deal with enough that day without working as well. The blonde had hardly said a word whilst investigating the scene. Jane wanted to hold her tight and make everything better for her but she knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. It didn't exactly come as a surprise to her when she didn't get a response, but she was certainly surprised when Maura was nowhere to be seen.

'Maura?' Jane called again, heading through to her office. 'Maura, are you in here?'

As she opened the office door, she heard the faint sound of crying but she had no idea where it was coming from. She looked around and realised that it was coming from the bathroom that joined onto Maura's office. Jane's heart sunk.

'Maura, sweetie, it's me. Can you open the door?'

A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a puffy-eyed, slightly dishevelled Maura.

'Oh God.. Sweetie, come here..' Jane pulled Maura into her arms, not letting her pull away. 'It's going to be fine. Cassie and James will calm down soon, it's not your fault. You never know, they might even give it another shot-'

'Jane, you don't understand..' Maura stepped back as soon as Jane's arms relaxed and picked up a pregnancy test that had been resting on the sink. 'We did it. I'm pregnant.'

Jane's eyes widened and her face broke into a grin. 'Really?'

'Really.' Maura wiped her eyes as more tears of joy spilled down her cheeks. 'God, I have to call Cassie..'

'Yeah, of course. Listen, you sort yourself out here and then meet me in the lobby. I'm taking you home.'

Maura smiled and hugged her friend. 'Thank you.'

'No problem.'

'No, really. Thank you. For everything.'

Jane felt a tear spring to her eye. 'You're welcome.' She kissed Maura's shoulder lightly before leaving her in the bathroom. The case could wait; Frost and Korsak could hold the fort for now. This was more important.

'Ma, we're home!' Jane called out as she closed the door behind herself and Maura.

Angela flew down the stairs. 'Hey, you two. You're not normally back so quickly.'

'Yeah, well.. I wanted to bring Maura home.'

'Of course. How you feeling, sweetheart?'

'She's fine,' Jane smiled, speaking for her friend. 'But you know what it's like out there. So dangerous this time of night. And we can't have pregnant women roaming the streets at this hour, can we?'

Jane and Maura grinned, waiting for Jane's words to sink in. They soon knew that they had..

'You're pregnant?! But the test-'

'It must have been faulty.'

'God, I hope you're not going to try and return it..'

Maura chuckled at Jane's words as Angela pulled her into a tight hug. 'This is amazing. Have you told Cassandra yet?'

'No, I haven't. I should probably call her.'

'Yeah, maybe.' Jane said sarcastically. 'Every potential mother longs for the day that her friend calls her up and tells her that they're pregnant.'

'I admit, it's not exactly the conventional method for someone to find out they're going to have a baby but I don't really see an alternative. She's going to get the news one way or another and I'd rather she got it now over the phone than later in person.' Maura pulled her phone out and dialled the number quickly. 'God, I don't think I've ever been so excited to make a phone call.'

'It's not exactly the kind of thing you do everyday though. Just be calm.'

Maura nodded and smiled as Cassandra answered. _'__Hello?__'_

'Cass, it's me.'

'_Oh, hi.. Maura, listen..__'_

'No, no, no. Let me speak. After you left, I.. Well.. Cassie, we're pregnant.'

There was silence from the other end of the phone. 'Cass? Cass, are you still there?'

A loud whooping noise told them she was, as was James. _'__We__'__re having a baby? We__'__re really having a baby?__'_

'Yeah, you're having a baby. The test that I took earlier must have been wrong.'

'_Oh my goodness.. Oh Maura, I love you..__'_

'I love you too, Cassie. Want me to let you go?'

'_I__'__ll call you back in the morning, honey. Thank you so much, Maura. We both love you and we__'__ll see you as soon as we can. If you need anything, call us. Oh my God, we__'__re pregnant!__'_

Maura smiled as Cassandra hung up. 'I think we just made her day.'

**Told you it would be okay :P**


	8. In A Heartbeat

**Thank you so much for the reviews, it's so encouraging :D I'm trying to get chapters up every few days for you all. **

Maura smiled as she made herself comfortable in the chair. On her left were James and Cassandra, who were holding hands and smiling anxiously at each other every few seconds, whilst Jane stood on her right and drummed her fingers loudly on the metal part of the chair. It was rare that everyone else around her was freaking out while she was the voice of sanity. It was often the other way round. The past year and a half had been full of twists and turns for her and she had found her emotional state to be all over the place. Maura was pretty sure she'd cried more times in the past couple of years than she had in her entire life. Thankfully, she was only ten weeks pregnant so her weepy hormones weren't fully kicking in yet.

'You okay, Maura?' Cassandra asked, breaking the silence.

'Yeah, I'm fine Cass. Stop worrying.'

'Maura, last time you told me to stop worrying, I was putting you to bed after you got drunk on champagne at my engagement party. Please tell me I don't have to do that again, especially when you're carrying my baby.'

Maura flushed. It took a lot of alcohol to get her drunk and she knew her limits but she'd definitely gone a bit overboard that night.

'My my, Doctor Isles,' Jane said with a grin. 'I've never known you to get drunk.'

'I don't make a habit of it, I can assure you.'

'I should hope not. God, how long does it take to find a midwife?'

As if on cue, the door swung open and a tall woman entered. She had messy brown hair piled up into a bun and twinkling blue eyes. She smiled at Maura but her expression changed as she saw the others around her.

'Doctor Isles and company, I presume?' The brunette asked as she began to arrange the equipment for the ultrasound. 'My name's Doctor Allen. How are we feeling?'

'Yeah, we're good,' All four of them answered in unison, making the doctor laugh.

'I was speaking to Doctor Isles but I'm glad to hear that everyone else is doing well.

Any morning sickness?'

'Only in the last three weeks. I was experiencing some fatigue and painful swelling of my mammae-'

'Your what?' Jane raised her eyebrows.

Maura sighed. 'My boobies, Jane. Okay?'

'Lovely.'

'Are you sure you don't want to have just the father in here?' The doctor asked,

repressing a smile.

'Well, can we have the mother in as well?'

Doctor Allen frowned. 'Of course..'

'Well, I'm their surrogate..'

'We're the parents..'

'And I'm not going anywhere.' Jane added, placing a hand on Maura's shoulder.

'Well, if that's how you want to do this.' The doctor smiled and switched on the machine. 'Here goes. Are you ready to see your baby for the first time?'

'Damn right, we are!' James said excitedly before clearing his throat and composing himself. 'Uh, sorry. Yes, of course.'

'Excuse him, he's a bit worked up. He's been like a child ever since you told us that you were pregnant.'

Maura smiled and looked at the screen. She had seen this done many times but she had never been so excited before. She gripped Jane's hand with one of her own and took Cassandra's with the other.

'There we go. That's your baby, right there. You see it?' Doctor Allen smiled, fiddling with another switch, this time causing a long thumping sound to fill the room.

'What's that noise?' James asked, looking around.

'That's the baby's heartbeat,' Maura said quietly. She was too overwhelmed to say anymore.

The doctor smiled and stood up. 'I'll give the four of you some time alone.'

'Thank you.'

'No problem. I'll come back in a minute to do your

Only when the door closed behind her did Cassandra let out a small sob. Maura looked up, startled.

'Cass, what's wrong?'

'Nothing, I.. I just.. I never thought I'd have this moment.. When I was pregnant before, we never got a chance to have an ultrasound. I'm just.. Maura, I can't even tell you how grateful to you I am right now..'

The blonde woman blinked away tears of her own. 'That should be my line. This is.. I've seen this done before but when you're actually in the seat and the baby on the screen is inside you.. It's amazing..'

'Yeah..' Jane squeezed Maura's hand, her eyes scanning the screen. 'Where is it?'

All three of them stared at Jane. 'What?'

'I can't see it. Is it that fuzzy thing there?'

Maura chuckled. 'Try looking about two inches to the right.'

'Oh.. That thing?'

'Yeah, that thing.'

'That splodge in the top right hand corner? I thought that was a smudge on the screen.'

'Jane, don't be so rude. That's their baby.'

'Our baby, Maura.' Cassandra said with a smile. 'You're going to be a part of his or her life too. You're going to be like their auntie.'

'Yeah, Maur. You get to do all the fun things like taking them to theme parks and filling them full sugar before sending them home. You don't have to deal with the tantrums, the runny noses and the dirty nappies. You've definitely got the better end of the deal.'

'Sssh, he or she might hear you.'

'Then close your legs.'

Maura cringed. 'God Jane, why do you have to be so crude?'

'You love me really.' Jane grinned.

'Jane..'

'Yeah?'

'Please shut up.'

Jane rubbed her eyes as she closed the door behind her. Ever since Maura had found

out she was pregnant, Jane was spending much more time over there. Considering she'd been there most of the time beforehand, this meant that she pretty much only went home to sleep. The kitchen and living room were empty but she could hear Maura in the bathroom. She wasn't just getting morning sickness; she was getting morning, afternoon, evening and occasionally middle-of-the-night sickness. In between that, she was constantly nauseous. The sickness hadn't really started until a couple of days after the hospital appointment but since then, it hadn't really stopped. She sighed and knocked on the bathroom door before pushing it open slightly.

'Maura? You okay, sweetie?'

'Do I look okay?'

'No, of course not. Sorry. Come on, it'll be easier if you stand up.'

'I don't want to stand up.'

'I know, but tough.' Jane put her hands under Maura's arms and lifted her to her feet.

'There we go.'

'Thanks,' Maura mumbled before throwing up again. 'I hate this.'

'I know you do, I know. Is that better?'

The blonde thought for a moment, then nodded. 'Yeah, I'm done.'

'Okay.' Jane grabbed a flannel off the side, ran it under the tap and gently wiped Maura's face with it. She kept one hand firmly around her waist to keep her upright.

'Thanks, Jane.'

'No problem. I bought you presents.'

'Really?' Maura's eyes lit up. 'Presents?'

'Uh-huh. Come with me.'

'Oh God Jane, what is it?'

'Wait and see.'

'Does it breathe?'

Jane chuckled. 'No, honey. It doesn't breathe.'

Maura raised her eyebrows at the sight of the plastic bag on the table. 'You bought

me a present from Wal-Mart?'

'Yep. Look inside.'

Dubiously, Maura looked inside the bag. 'Cottage cheese, grated parmesan, yoghurt,

smoothies..'

'You need to keep your calcium levels up. I read it in that massive pregnancy book you've got.'

'Well, thank you. And.. What on earth are these?' Maura pulled out a brightly coloured packet.

'They're anti-nausea sweets. Kinda like travel sweets. I got some lollipops, ginger tea and gummy bears as well.'

Maura smiled and hugged her best friend. 'Jane, I love you.'

Jane bit her lip as she held Maura close, breathing in the smell of her coconut-scented hair. 'I love you too, Maura. I love you too.'


	9. Moods

**So this one was supposed to be a funny one, whether or not it turned out that way is another matter. Enjoy :D**

**Yeah.. I still own nothing :/ **

'Maura, do you think you could-? My God, it's freezing in here!'

Maura sighed and looked up from her laptop. 'What do you want, Jane?'

'I want you to A, stop being so grumpy and B, turn the heating up in here. It's like, minus 500.'

'Okay, first of all, the average human being can only survive in temperatures as low as minus thirty and only for a few seconds, although there was a case once of a girl who could withstand-'

'Maura, please. Spare me the lecture.'

'You asked for it.' Maura turned back to the report she was typing up. 'The temperature is staying where it is, though. It's me that has to be down here all day, not you. And to answer your first request, I'm not grumpy, I'm merely hot and full of estrogen and progesterone. So if you don't mind-'

'Okay, okay. I'm backing off. You got a blanket laying around?'

'Unless you want the sheets that I cover bodies with, no. But there's a towel in that cupboard over there. Grab me one too, please.'

Jane did as she was told and threw Maura's across the room, an action she regretted when Maura sent a scowl her way.

'Thanks.'

'Sorry. You okay?'

'I'm fine, never better. I'm going to take a shower and change out of these scrubs. Can you get me a glass of water while I'm in there?'

'Why don't you just drink out of the shower?'

'Why don't you piss off?'

Jane almost choked. Maura never used language like that, not directed at her anyway.

The worst Jane had ever heard her say was 'crap'.

'Calm down, I was only kidding.'

'I know, I'm sorry.' Maura half smiled and headed out to the bathroom next to her office. She had never been more grateful for having a full bathroom installed.

Jane smiled as she left. She could forgive Maura's snappiness just by seeing the adorable lop-sided smile on her face. The detective was about to leave when she heard Maura's melodic voice call out to her from the bathroom.

'Hey Jane!'

'Yeah, Maur?'

'Any chance you could grab me a chicken salad wrap?'

'My wish is your command, oh pissy one.'

Jane left quickly, a grin on her face, just in time to miss the string of obscenities being shouted at her.

Jane returned fifteen minutes later to find Maura already back in the room, washed and changed, her damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders. She wore a tight blue dress that finished halfway down her thigh and complimented her complexion perfectly. It showed off every curve perfectly, including a curve that Jane hadn't seen before..

'Oh my God, look at you..'

'Yes, I'm fully aware that I look a mess. Thanks for rubbing it in.'

'No, seriously. Maura, you're showing.'

'Really?' Maura looked down, trying to see what Jane saw. 'It doesn't look like it.'

'That's because you see your body like that everyday. Honestly, Maur, you've got a bump.'

'It's only a little one.'

'Yeah, but still.'

'Well, great. Can you see it anywhere else too? You know, have I got a double chin as well? Chubby ankles? A huge ass?'

'Maura, no, of course not. You're still beautiful and you've got an amazing figure, anyone can tell that.'

'Really?' Maura's doleful eyes looked up into Jane's amused ones.

'Really. Now, can we start being a bit more agreeable?'

'Me? I wasn't..' Maura's attempt at arguing was cut short by Jane's raised eyebrows.

'Alright. I'm sorry, Jane. Can I have my wrap now?'

'I thought we were being agreeable.'

'Please?'

'That's better. There you go.' Jane handed over the packet, placing the glass of water on the bench at the side of the room. 'Geez, fourteen weeks. You've been pregnant for fourteen weeks.'

'Yes.'

'That's three and a half months.'

'Yes.'

'So in another five and a half..'

'I'll be giving birth.'

'Yeah.'

'I know.'

'Scary, huh?'

Maura looked up from plastic she was struggling to open. 'What have you got to be scared about? You're not the one who's going to be pushing a human being out of your-'

'Thank you, Maura. I just meant it's scary to think that you're having a baby.'

'Well, it's not like I'm taking it home at the end of the day.'

'I know, but..' Jane sighed. 'You want me to open that for you?'

'Yes please.' Maura handed over the wrap and rubbed her forehead. 'I'm just tired and hormonal. I don't mean to snap like this.'

'I know, sweetie. It's okay. I forgive you. Here, eat this. It'll make you feel better.' Jane passed the packet back to her.

'Thanks.' Maura took a large bite of the wrap. 'Mmm, that's.. Is that..? Crap..'

'No, it's a _wrap_.' Jane grinned, but the grin faded when Maura dropped the packet on the table and sprinted to the sink.

'Hasn't your morning sickness stopped?' She said softly, rubbing her friend's back.

'It has.' Maura sighed when she'd finished, grabbing a tissue from the box on her desk. 'But apparently the baby now hates mayonnaise.'

'Would low fat be better?'

Maura chuckled and leaned against the bench. 'Please tell me you're not being serious.'

'No, of course not. Come on, let's go get some proper lunch.'

'Will it have mayonnaise?'

'Not if we threaten my mother to leave it out.'

'Ooh, can we have Doritoes too?'

'Of course.'

'Chilli ones?'

'Anything you want.'

Maura grinned and grabbed her bag from the desk. 'Will you let me pay?'

Jane rolled her eyes. 'Depends on how much you're going to eat.'


	10. Secrets You Keep

**Warning - this chapter is going to get kinda deep. I****'****ve tried to be as sensitive to the subject as possible but if I offend anybody then I****'****m truly sorry. Feel free to give me a bollocking in a review if I do. **

**This chapter is just a little insight into Maura****'****s past and how she met Cassandra. A lot of people have been wondering why she owes her so much - This is why. **

**Still don****'****t own anything. **

'Maura?'

'Mm?'

'Can I ask you something?'

Maura sucked the remainder of the lemon sorbet from her spoon and placed it in her bowl. 'Depends.'

'On?'

'On what you're going to ask me.'

Jane sighed. Maura had been even more difficult than usual now. At 22 weeks, she was nearing the beginning of her third trimester and everything had become so much more intense. The woman must have gone through at least four tubs of lemon sorbet in the past few weeks. What had disgusted Jane most of all though was when she had spent the last two evenings munching on chilli Doritos dipped in marshmallow fluff. Her hormones had unbelievable recently; it surprised Jane how quickly she could go from laughing to crying to throwing plates across the room. Jane had dealt with the emotions whilst the Vaughns had kept her cravings satisfied. But no one, not even Angela who had raised three children, was prepared for the tantrum she had thrown when she had had to succumb to wearing maternity clothes.

'It's kinda personal..'

'Good start.'

'I..' Jane shuffled in her seat. 'Remember when you first told me that you were going to be a surrogate?'

'Yeah?'

'You said that you owed Cassandra everything.'

'I do.'

'Well.. Why?'

Jane felt Maura go stiff beside her. She couldn't work out why she was so uncomfortable about this. It was her, for goodness sakes. They told each other everything. She almost expected Maura to spill for a minute but she didn't. Instead, the blonde sighed and got up from the sofa to wash her bowl up.

'Does it matter?'

'Well, not really. I was just wondering-'

'Then drop it. Please.'

'Maura, come on-'

'For God's sakes, stop going on about it.' Maura snapped, turning around to face Jane from the kitchen. 'Why is this such a big deal?'

'I want to understand you. There's so many things about you that I know I'll never be able to figure you out. For one thing, I'll never get why you have to arrange your closet the way you do or why you're so set on explaining things in so much detail. I'll never understand how you can cut up bodies for a living and I know for a fact that I'll never understand your obsession with buying shoes when you're depressed. But I want to understand this bond that you two have. Why did you feel compelled to do this?'

'I didn't feel compelled. Look, I can tell you why I shop when I'm sad and why I arrange clothes the way I do if you really want to know. But surely friends are allowed to keep some secrets from each other? Honestly, I don't know a lot about friendship, so tell me if I'm wrong. I just thought friendship partially consisted of a mutual respect for one another.'

'I do respect you-'

'Then please respect my decision to keep this private. Please Jane. Why are you even bringing this up now?'

'Because.. I wanted to know what you two have that we don't.'

Maura almost smirked despite her frustration. 'Jane Rizzoli, please tell me you're not jealous.'

'No, of course not. You two are friends, we're friends. Just.. It was nice to have something that was just.. You know, mine..'

Maura smiled. 'I am, Jane.'

'What?'

'Yours.'

'Then prove it.'

Maura's jaw dropped. 'I'm sorry?'

'Prove it,' Jane repeated. 'Tell me.'

'If you're going to try and force this out of me, you can fu-'

'Hey, I'm not forcing anything out of you. If you don't want to tell me, fine.'

'Then why are you pressing this?'

'Because I love you, Maura.' Jane paused and composed herself. 'You're my best friend and I want to be able to help you. I want you to trust me.'

'Of course I trust you.'

'So why-?'

'Because I hate talking about it. But if you're going to be a complete asshole until I spill, then I'll tell you. Hopefully, then you'll understand why I didn't want to say anything.'

'Maura-'

'No, you asked for it.' Maura stormed back over and sat in the armchair opposite Jane. 'We were twenty nine, both of us working out in Senegal. I'd spent the previous eight months in Ethiopia and Cass had been in Senegal for about a month. We were young and free and we both thought this was going to be an experience that would completely change our lives. And it was, believe me.'

'Okay Maura, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me-'

'One night, I had a man approach me needing medical attention. He had a gash on his hand and he seemed to be very upset over something. So I treated his wound and he told me that a few weeks previously, he'd lost his wife and his two daughters. So I sat with him for a while, just letting him say what he needed to say. I thought he just needed someone to be there for him. Then he started getting angry, shouting all kinds abuse about the person who did it. He told me what he wanted to do to them. He was so intense, yelling and knocking stuff over. He knocked me off my chair. Before I could get up, he was there, on top of me. His hands were everywhere. The second I saw the look in his eyes, I knew that everything he'd just told me had been a lie. I tried to fight, but.. It was all over so quickly.'

'Oh sweetie..' Jane bit back tears. 'I didn't-'

Maura ignored her and carried on. 'I didn't know what to do or how to cope. I just sort of sunk into myself. I did my work but I stopped seeing people when we weren't on duty. Instead, I went straight to where we slept and stayed there. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, I could barely think straight. The next couple of weeks were like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. It got so bad that I couldn't deal with it anymore. Cassie found me one morning, unconscious on the floor with an empty bottle of pills next to me. Thanks to her and another doctor who was with us, I was saved. She helped me get better. She never asked why I did it and I never told her. She saved my life, Jane. I owe her everything because she's the reason I'm here. Without her, I would never have taken this job, I would never have met you and I wouldn't be this stable. We both came back to America soon after. She kept a close eye on me for a while but I expected that. I was still shaky and vulnerable so between her and some therapist she made me see, I was able to be around guys and people I didn't know without hyperventilating. I was never comfortable with people but this destroyed any confidence I'd gained. The nightmares and that never stopped but I got through the worst of it. And then I came here. I took this job because I still find it a lot easier to be around dead people than live ones. The dead don't judge or hurt us. So now you know, okay?'

Jane watched, still reeling, as a single tear ran down Maura's cheek. She willed herself to say something, anything that would be mildly comforting, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she helped Maura to her feet and held her close. She rubbed small circles on her back as Maura began to cry into her shoulder.

'Sssh, it's okay. I'm here.' Jane knew that nothing she could say or do would make it go away. So she simply held her best friend and let her cry, wishing that there was something more she could do to spare Maura this pain.


	11. Everything's Different Nothing's Changed

**To all those who are craving Rizzles - I did say that it would be a while. Sorry guys. Please be patient and keep reading, you'll get your fix at some point. **

**S****till love you guys, still not owning anything here. **

Maura hummed lightly as she busied herself in the kitchen. In the last two weeks, she had developed a cleaning urge that she was finding increasingly difficult to satisfy. She found herself spending much more time cleaning upstairs when Jane was over, especially after what she had revealed three weeks ago. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep this up, especially now that she was just over six months pregnant and getting increasingly dependent on those around her. Jane had even taken to staying over in the spare room most nights, which was what she had done this particular night. But she couldn't face Jane properly just yet; the look of pity in her eyes was enough to send her insane. She couldn't stand feeling so weak and she especially couldn't stand anyone else thinking she was.

She finished wiping down the surfaces in the kitchen and went to the downstairs cupboard to get her vacuum cleaner. She had dusted all the surfaces, polished her ornaments, cleaned her entire kitchen and downstairs bathroom and put a fresh load of washing in the machine. She made a silent vow to herself that she'd stop after this. Then again, she thought as she put the plug in, she couldn't guarantee that.

She had been working away for almost fifteen minutes when the main light in the living room came on. Jane stood, sleepy eyed and dressed in short pyjamas, in the doorway. Her arms were folded and by the look on her face, she wasn't particularly happy.

'Maura, what the hell are you doing?'

'Hoovering.'

'Okay, but it's three in the morning.'

'I know. I want to hoover, okay? If you don't like it, go and stay with someone who isn't pregnant.'

'Sorry, Maur. Want a hand?'

'No.'

Jane sighed and leaned against the doorframe. 'Do you want me to do anything?'

'Go back to bed.'

'How can I when you've got that damn thing on? Come on, switch it off and come sit down. Please.'

Maura scowled but did as she was told. 'I thought you were tired?'

'I have enough energy left for you. Leave the vacuum, just sit.'

'Okay, okay.' Maura sat on the sofa beside Jane. 'What?'

'What's with the cleaning? Is it a pregnancy thing?'

'I guess. Just be thankful I'm not horny. Although I have been experiencing an increased libido-'

'Maura, eww! Come on, I don't need to know about your _libido_.'

'Anyway, it's one of the better symptoms. What do you want?'

'Charming.'

'You know what I mean.' Maura rubbed her tired eyes. 'Why are you still down here rather than back upstairs asleep?'

'Because you're not. There must be some reason for you to be up at this ungodly hour. Other than your hormones, of course.'

'Jane, I'm fine.'

'Then why can't you look me in the eye since you told me about Senegal?'

Maura looked down, her hands fiddling with the hem of her pyjama top. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'You're going to get hives in a minute. Does Cassie know that I know?'

'No. She doesn't know half the story anyway.'

'Why didn't you tell her?'

'Because it didn't seem important at the time. She wanted to know, obviously, but she was more concerned with making sure I didn't do anything stupid.'

'Are you ever going to tell her?'

'No, of course not.' Maura looked shocked by the very idea.

'Don't you think she deserves to know?'

'I can't tell her, Jane. I can't hurt her.'

'So what are you going to do when we see her for the next scan? You going to lie to

her?'

'No, I..' Maura paused. 'I just won't relay specific information. That's not lying, that's just retaining facts.'

'Oh, just.' Jane said sarcastically. 'Look, I can sort of understand why you didn't tell Cassie. But why did you keep it from me for so long? Did you think I wouldn't love you as much? That I'd think less of you? Did you think I'd look down on you or push you away?'

'I was scared that you'd think I was weak.'

Jane stared at Maura. 'Weak? Maura, you're the strongest person I know. You've been through so much and you've still got the time to help other people. That's one of the millions of things I love about you. No matter what happened in your past, nothing you could ever tell me would change that. In fact, I think it's made me love you more. Knowing that you've survived so much crap and you're still just as amazing as I'm sure you were before, it astounds me. You're far from weak, Maura. You're strong, sophisticated, intelligent beyond belief and I love you.'

Maura's eyes filled with tears. 'I love you too. But how can you not think less of me? I tried to take my own life. I tried to take the easy way out. You said when we first talked about becoming a surrogate that I'd made some tough decisions but I always chose right in the end. That time, I didn't. I chose to give up rather than stay and put up a fight. It even took me seven years to gather up the courage to tell you what happened, Jane. I'm not strong or amazing, and I'm certainly not worthy of your love.'

'Is that how it feels?'

'That's how it is.'

'Well, that's crap. I care about you more than you could ever know, okay? You're.. you're my best friend. You're smart, sweet and yeah, you frustrate the hell out of me sometimes but I know I get on your nerves too. And that's okay, because that's what friendship is about. Compromises, give and take. You can think what you like, but don't you ever dare think that you're not worthy of anything, because it's bull. Okay?'

'Okay. Thank you, Jane. Really.' Maura smiled, her eyes finally meeting Jane's.

'You're welcome. Come here..' Jane put her arm around Maura and pulled her close, letting Maura's head lay on her shoulder. She rested her cheek on the mop of blonde curls and breathed in her smell. She prayed that that scent would linger in her nostrils forever or that one day, she would be able to smell it on her pillow when she woke up. But none of that would happen until Maura was stronger and less pregnant. Or at least, Jane resolved, until she was able to stand the mention of Maura's libido.


	12. Doubly Blessed

**We're back into lighter territory now guys, don't worry. Hope you're all enjoying so far :D**

**As much as I would love to own Sasha Alexander and Angie Harmon, I'm afraid I own absolutely nothing. **

'Are you comfortable there, Doctor Isles?'

'Very, thank you.'

Maura stretched out her arms in front of her. She had grown used to these chairs over the past 28 weeks and they were becoming increasingly comfortable to her. She was laying mostly flat with her upper back and shoulders raised. Her elasticated jeans sat around her hips and her baggy shirt hitched up under her chest, exposing her now-large stomach. Cassandra and Jane were standing near her head; James, however, was stuck at work and despite the mouthful that his wife had given him over the phone, there was no way of him getting to them on time. Eventually, Cassie had resigned herself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to make it and, after informing him that the argument was most certainly not over, had left him to it.

'Good. I'm just going to rub some of this gel onto your stomach. It's going to be a little cold.'

Maura nodded and let her get on with it. She, like most others involved, was now dying to know whether she was carrying a boy or a girl. Everyone she came into contact with had tried to guess the sex, from Jane and Angela to the pizza delivery guy. Frankie, Korsak and Angela had their bets on a girl whilst Jane and Frost were convinced it was a boy. Neither Maura or the parents to be had given it a lot of thought. The Vaughns insisted that they didn't care what it was as long as it was healthy and Maura had been too distracted by other things before to even consider the sex of the baby. Now though, she could barely wait.

She felt the cool gel on her bare skin and looked up at the screen. The 'splodge' had been much smaller last time she had seen it. It almost scared her to think that it had grown in her stomach.

'There's your..' The midwife moved the stick over Maura's stomach. 'Oh..'

'Oh?' Maura whimpered, squeezing Cassandra's hand. 'Don't say oh.. What's wrong?'

'Nothing, I.. Sorry, just.. Is there a history of twins in the family?'

'Yeah,' Cassandra said quickly. 'James's father is a twin and- Pardon?'

'Congratulations, you're having twins.' The woman smiled. 'Would you like to know the sexes?'

'Yes please.' Cassandra grinned at Maura. 'God, you spend your whole life waiting for a baby and then all of a sudden, two come along at once.'

'Typical, isn't it?'

'Mm.'

'Here we go.. The one on the left here, you see it? It's a boy.'

'A boy.. Wow.. And the other?'

The nurse moved the stick over again. 'It's a girl. Congratulations, one of each.'

'Oh my God.. One of each..' Cassandra could barely speak. 'I.. Wow.'

Jane grinned. 'Amazing, huh?'

'Yeah..' Maura said quietly, a small smile on her face. 'Amazing.'

'No! No, no, no! What the hell are you doing?'

'Janie, shouting at the TV isn't going to help.' Angela rolled her eyes as she sat down on the sofa.

'Ma, even you could make a better decision than that. Why would they send Regis off? He's playing better than that whole damn team put together. Fricking refs these days, I swear you have to have an IQ of 70 or less to get the job..'

'If you say so, baby. Out of interest, has Maura's morning sickness come back again?'

'No, why?'

'She's in the bathroom again.'

'Oh yeah, she's just brushing her teeth.'

Angela frowned. 'I swear she cleaned them half an hour ago..'

'She did,' Jane grinned. 'It's a craving. She's even taken to chewing her toothbrush after she's used it. And mine when I stay here.'

'That's.. kinda weird.'

'Uh huh. I think it might be a mint thing, she keeps stealing my chewing gum.'

'Really? I thought she refused to chew gum?'

'Yeah, she says it gives you stomach ulcers or something. Plus when you spit it out, your germs are released into the air and anyone can breathe them in. But baby gets what baby wants.'

'I guess so. It could be a chewing thing actually. Your Aunt Clara had a sucking craving when she was pregnant with Marco. She went through bags of ice poles everyday for weeks.'

Jane grinned. 'Lovely. Maybe you should make some of your herb and tomato bread, that takes a lot of chewing.'

'Cheeky cow.' Angela elbowed her daughter lightly. 'I'll have you know, your great-grandmother taught me that recipe.'

'My bad.'

'Jane, have you seen my.. My, uh.. You know..'

Jane looked round at Maura, who was standing in the kitchen with a puzzled expression on her tired face. Pregnancy memory loss had started to kick in recently and it was driving everyone insane.

'No sweetie, I don't know. What are you looking for?'

'Funnily enough Jane, if I could remember then I'd tell you..'

'Okay.. Well, just tell me when you remember. You want to watch something else?'

'No, you're okay. Got any chewing gum?'

Jane repressed a smirk and dug around in her pocket. 'Of course Maura. I don't come here without it anymore. Here you go.'

Maura took the packet gratefully and stuffed a piece in her mouth. 'What's the time?'

'Just gone six.' Jane answered quickly, stifling a yawn. 'God, I'm exhausted.'

Maura's head snapped up. '_You__'__re _exhausted, are you? _You__'__re _exhausted?'

'Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Sorry, I didn't think. Okay?'

'Clearly.'

'Alright you two, calm down. I'm going start on dinner in a minute, what do you fancy?' Angela directed the question to Maura, trying to appease her. 'I could make Penne all'arrabbiata, you love that.'

The question, however simple, seemed to calm the furious blonde down and she answered sweetly. 'That'd be lovely. Did you know that arrabbiata is Italian for angry? It's called that because of the heat of the chillies that are used.'

Jane couldn't help but laugh. 'No, I didn't know that. Is there anything you don't know?'

Maura thought for a minute. 'Well, I still don't know what I was looking for when I came in here…'

**Just a silly little end piece in there to make it a bit longer :P Next chapter will be up soon but for now, I'm off. Au revoir. **


	13. Breathing Lessons

**Wow, you made it this far. Congratulations :D **

**This chapter completely died, I'm afraid. I wrote it at about 3 in the morning after too many Pixy Stix (Hell yes, we get them in the UK :D)**

**Still own nothing. **

'Good morning, Mommies and Daddies. My name is Cheyenne and I'll be guiding you through the next eight weeks. I'm going to teach you all about breathing techniques, ways to relax and most importantly, helping one another through the miraculous, although challenging ordeal that is childbirth.'

'That's comforting.' Jane muttered into Maura's ear.

'Shush, she's talking.' Maura whispered back.

Jane, Maura, Cassandra and James were all sat on the floor of the local leisure centre, surrounded by at least ten other pregnant women and their partners. Jane had dreaded the birthing classes but being able to massage Maura's back without getting her hand bitten off would definitely be the silver lining to her cloud. Maura was sat cross legged on a hideous orange cushion, her back upright and her hands resting on her knees.

'Before we move on, I'd like to you all to introduce yourselves. It's good to get to know each other in this type of class. We'll start with you.' Cheyenne pointed at a couple to their left, who grinned at each other.

'I'm Claire and this is Jordan. We're twenty nine weeks pregnant with our little Natalie. She's our third.'

'Excellent. And you?'

'My name's Amy and this is Jasmine, my best friend. She's here to support me today. I'm six and a half months pregnant with my first child.'

'Congratulations.' Cheyenne smiled. 'You?'

Maura looked up and realised the lady was pointing directly at her. She glanced over at Cassandra who stepped in for her. She really wouldn't have known what to say.

'I'm Cassandra and this is my husband James. This is Maura, my friend and our surrogate. And this is Jane, Maura's friend.'

'That's wonderful. And how far along are you, Maura?'

'I'm thirty one weeks pregnant with their twins, a boy and a girl.'

Maura was thankful when, after several further questions, she decided to move on. The woman seemed to be a little too interested in their _special _circumstance for her liking.

'God, I'm going to tear my ears off in a minute…'

'Jane, will you shut up?'

'What? Her voice is really getting to me.'

'Me too, but-'

Maura was cut off by Cheyenne returning to the point of the session.

'Okay, Daddies are going to start by massaging Mommy's back..'

Jane gave the Vaughns a questioning look, which she noticed they returned. Man, this was going to be a long two hours…

'Oh that's so nice.. Oh… Oh wow.. Little bit harder?'

Jane grinned and did as she was told. 'I'm so glad Frost and Korsak aren't here..'

'Honestly Jane, get your mind out of the gutter. That was perfectly innocent.'

'Uh huh. Is this better?'

Maura thought for a moment. 'You're not doing it harder, you're just digging your nails in.'

'My nails are cut right back.'

'Well, something's digging in.'

'I'll dig something in if you don't shut up.' Jane grumbled, shuffling away. 'Cass, you want to take over? She's giving me a headache.'

Cassandra chuckled. 'She does have that affect on people. Let me try.'

'I hope you'll be able to please her better than me.'

'It's okay, Jane.' Maura said, a slight smirk on her face. 'You can rest assured knowing that no one can get on my nerves like you can.'

'Oooh, meow. Put those claws away.'

'Before I scratch your damn eyes out.'

Jane couldn't help but laugh. 'I've never heard you like this before. Something crawl up your butt, honey?'

'No, two things crawled into my uterus and made themselves at home. Speaking of my butt, it's going a little numb..'

'Does that mean you're going to stop talking?'

Maura glared. 'Are you trying to piss me off?'

'Like I'd do a thing like that. I'm sorry, sweetie. You know me, I don't know when to stop.'

'Mmm. Well, next time you decide to insult a pregnant woman, you may want to wait until she can't hear you.'

'Nah, it's more fun this way. Do you still love me?'

'Of course I do.'

Cassandra grinned, massaging Maura's lower back. 'You two really make me laugh. You're like an old married couple.'

Jane smiled. Being married to Maura.. That was food for thought. If her idiosyncrasies didn't drive her to murder, she imagined that it wouldn't be entirely unpleasant.. She wondered what it would be like to wake up every morning next to her, to see her golden curls splayed out on her pillow and to be there when she woke up. Suddenly, she wanted all of that. She wanted to kiss her goodnight, to make her pancakes and to spend rainy Sunday afternoons watching the cheesy films that Maura loved so much.

She was so caught up in her daydream that she completely missed half of what James was saying. Not that she minded; James was certainly an acquired taste and he wasn't exactly hers.

'Don't you agree, Jane?'

'Uh.. Yes, definitely.'

Maura frowned. 'You think they should paint the twins' room yellow? Really?'

'Well, it's a unisex colour I suppose. Maybe, uh.. cream would be better though.' Jane prayed that she had saved herself but the look in Maura's eye told her that maybe she hadn't.

'Cream would work. We could put a border up or stencil something on the walls?'

'What kind of border? You don't want anything too gender specific. Teddy bears?'

'Teddy bears.. Maura, you're a genius.' Cassandra moved her hands up to massage Maura's shoulders. 'You're so good at this.'

'And you could stencil moons and stars on the ceiling in fluorescent paint.'

'I love it. James, can we adopt her? She's so much easier to agree with than you.'

The man sighed and kissed his wife's head. 'Maybe, but I bet she won't ever be able to love you as much as I do.'

But _she_ would. One day, Jane resolved as she watched as the couple teased each other and giggled like children. One day.


	14. Twist Of Fate

**Thanks to everyone for reviewing/following/favouriting, you're all amazing. **

**Once again, written at some stupid hour in the morning. I apologise. **

**Dear Ts - I'm sorry :P She'll get nicer, honest!**

**Would you believe it.. I still own absolutely sod all. **

Jane, Frost and Korsak sat at their respective desks, all slumped in their seats. This case was driving them insane, every lead they followed up on seemed to be a dead end. They had been working on it for three days and so far, they had very little to go on. No one had spoken in the room for at least twenty minutes, until Korsak decided to break the silence.

'Jane, how's Maura?'

'Fat.'

'That's a lovely way to talk about your best friend. Don't let her catch you saying that.'

'I won't. I called her Tubby the other day, I nearly lost a finger.'

'So she's not in the best mood?'

'Not really. I've never seen her like this before, she's spent most of last couple of weeks on the sofa eating cereal with gravy.'

'That's disgusting.'

'I've learnt not to criticise her cravings. If she wants it, she gets it. I think she's just fed up now, that's all. Once the babies are born, she'll be absolutely fine. But if she goes all weepy on me after the birth, I'm emigrating.'

'It must be hard or her, knowing that she has to give the babies up.'

'Well, she knows they're going to a good home. And she'll still get to see them. Can we get back to the case?'

'Yeah, sure. At least we've ruled out the spouse.'

'So if it wasn't Mrs Emmerson.. Well, somebody else had to have been in the basement with him..'

'Professor Plum with a spanner.'

'Real funny, Korsak. I'd keep that one for here, not for when we talk to his nine year old son.'

Korsak fell silent and Jane made to carry on but the click of heels made her stop.

'Crap, she's coming. Hide!'

'Huh?' Frost frowned.

Maura had been in an awful mood for the past few days. Now that she was 38 weeks, only 2 weeks away from the end, her mood swings had increased dramatically. The last time that Jane had gone down to autopsy, Maura had screamed her out of the room. So she was surprised to see a smile on Maura's face as she approached.

'Hey Jane.'

'Maura, hey. How you doing?'

'I'm good. Well, I've peed seventeen times in the last ten hours, these two have been kicking me like mad all day, I'm hot, sticky, my feet are killing me, and I'm sick of waddling around like a damn penguin but yeah, I'm good.'

'As long as you're okay. You fancy going out for dinner tonight? Ma called, she wants to treat us.'

'That's very nice of her. Do you mind if we stay here for a few minutes? I need to sit down.'

'Yeah, of course. Frost, move your ass.'

Frost opened his mouth to argue but one look into Jane's eyes told him that was a bad idea.

'Of course. Here, Doctor Isles. Have a seat.'

Maura smiled and sat down, leaning on the desk to help her. ''Thank you, Detective Frost.'

'No problem.'

'So, Doc.. You think you're going to miss being pregnant?'

Maura raised her eyebrows and shot Korsak a look that made him shrink into his seat. 'Are you kidding me? I've spent nearly nine months feeling nauseous, randomly bursting into tears, having hot flushes and urinating like I've got Niagara Falls in my bladder. My ankles are about twice the size they normally are, my back, breasts and hips ache and I want to sleep all the time. And worst of all, I've turned into a complete and utter slob. I don't tidy up after myself apart from the cleaning phase I had, I eat like a pig and I can't even be bothered to dry my hair properly after I shower. God, I've turned into Jane..'

Jane glared whilst the two men laughed.

'I wonder if Jane would turn into you if she was pregnant.' Korsak commented, patting Jane on the shoulder.

'God, no. You think I'd turn into an obsessively neat, overly precocious-'

'I don't think you ought to finish that sentence, Jane, not if you want to be alive when Maura gives birth.'

'I'm not sure I want to be there anyway, not if she's going to be this bitchy.'

'Funny.'

'I thought it was.'

Frost grinned. 'As long as Korsak isn't with her. He'd be trying to play Doctor Doolittle. She'd end up having piglets.'

All four of them burst out laughing, even Maura. All the stress they had been under suddenly melted away as they shared the laughter. It was only broken by Maura's mobile ringing.

'Here, I'll get it.' Jane offered, wiping away a tear of laughter as Maura pulled the phone out of her bag. 'You're not making a lot of sense at the moment.'

Maura rolled her eyes but passed the phone over. 'Don't embarrass me.'

'Hello?' Jane said quickly, a cheeky smile still on her face. 'One second, please. Maura, it's for you.'

'Of course it is, it's my phone.' Still giggling, Maura took the mobile. 'Doctor Maura Isles.'

Jane, Frost and Korsak watched as Maura's radiant smiled vanished, replaced by a look of shock and pain. She said nothing more than the occasional 'yeah', or 'okay' until she put the phone back in her pocket. When she turned back to face Jane, there were tears in her eyes.

'Maura.. Oh my God, what's wrong?'

'I.. They.. That was the hospital.. Cassie and James were in a car accident..'

'Oh my.. Well, are they okay?'

Maura shook her head, her voice catching in her throat. 'James died on impact.. They took Cass in but she was really hurt and..' Maura's voice trailed off and a tear fell from her eye. One tear became several, too quickly for her to stop them.

'Oh sweetie.. It's okay, come here..' Jane reached out and pulled Maura into a tight hug. 'I'm so sorry..'

Frost and Korsak fell silent, simply watching the sobbing woman as she clung to Jane like a child. They stayed there for several minutes until Maura pulled away sharply and doubled over in pain.

'No.. No, not yet.. It's too early.'

'Maura, what is it?'

'The.. The baby..' Maura managed to reply, her voice still thick with tears. 'I think it's time..'

'What?!' Jane's voice rose an octave. 'How do you know?'

All four of them looked down as a gush of clear liquid began to stream down Maura's bare legs and onto the floor.

'Crap..'


	15. Chaos Theory

**So.. Baby time! The moment we've all been waiting for, I believe. **

**I apologise for my mistakes, I****'****m not a doctor and I have absolutely no idea about this stuff. So if there****'****s any inaccuracies, sorry. **

**Also - I love you all for reviewing but please stop trying to guess what's going to happen :P And for those of you who were unsure, Cassie's definitely dead. **

**Own sod all. **

'Oh my God.. Okay.. Frost, grab Maura's bag from under my desk and meet us by the elevator. Korsak, go find Frankie and tell him to call my mother. She wants to be there for this apparently.'

The two men rushed off to do as Jane asked. Maura, on the other hand, was rooted to the spot. She was still bent over, one hand on her vast stomach and the other holding onto Jane's shirt.

'It's okay Maura, come on. Just hold onto me. Come on.' Jane hated to have to force Maura but unless she wanted to give birth in the office, she didn't have much of a choice. Eventually, she guided Maura out to the elevator where Frost was waiting, bag in hand.

'Ready?'

'I think so. She'll be fine, I'll make sure of that.'

Jane had never been so anxious for the lift to arrive since she started working there. Then again, it was the first time she had waited for it with a woman in labour in her arms. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as the doors slid open and the three stepped in, Frost placing himself as far way from them as possible. Jane was stressed and Maura was both crying and covered in amniotic fluid. For him, that really wasn't a good combination. The doors closed in front of them and the elevator began to travel down to the lobby.

Until, between the second and first floor, the lights dimmed and it came to a shuddering halt.

'Jane.. Jane, why have we stopped?'

'Calm down, I'm sure it'll start up again soon.' Jane wished she could convince herself that what she was saying was true. 'Just be patient.'

'I don't have time to be patient. They're not exactly going to hang around in here. I need to be in a hospital, Jane. I can't do this here.'

'Well, it looks like you're going to have to. Sit down, sweetie, come on. Frost, see if you can get through to Korsak or someone. We need to be out of here, now.'

'Jane, there's no signal in here.'

'Crap. The speaker, Frost. Use the button over there to call down. I have to help Maura. Give me her bag, now.'

She practically snatched the bag from his hand and knelt down beside Maura, who was now sitting against the wall of the lift. Her legs were bent up and spread and her dress was hitched up around her waist.

'How you doing there, Maur? You okay?'

The blonde nodded slowly. 'Yeah.. At the moment I am, anyway.'

'Alright sweetie, just hold tight. Everything's going to be fine.'

'Okay, okay. I.. Oww..' Maura winced and rubbed her stomach. 'Contraction.'

'How big?'

'Only a little one. It's okay.'

'Jane,' Frost's voice was tinged with panic. 'I spoke to the operator, they said they're waiting for the engineer but he's been doing a job somewhere else and traffic's really bad. Could take him an hour to get here.'

'An hour? Well, we don't have an hour. I don't know how long these babies intend to hang around in there.'

'Not long,' Maura said, taking a deep breath. 'Judging by the rate and intensity of the contractions, I'd say an hour, maybe two at the maximum. It's highly unusual, particularly for a woman's first child, for the labour to last less than ten hours but they seem to be working pretty quickly.'

'Well, they say it's quicker by tube..'

The two women snapped their heads up to glare at Frost, who was biting his lip.

'Sorry, I lived in London for six months. You kind of have to have experienced their train system to understand that. And, you know, the way the baby was..' He cleared his throat. 'So.. Everything okay down there?'

'Yeah Frost, everything's peachy. Come take a look if you like.'

The man went pale. 'Uh.. No thanks.. I'm good..'

'He's not going to puke, is he?' Maura looked concerned. 'This isn't exactly hygienic anyway, but-'

'Honey, Frost is the least of your problems. Right now, you need to focus on you and the babies.'

Maura nodded and balled her hand into a fist as another contraction rippled through her. This was like a nightmare for her. Usually, everything in her life was perfectly organised. Even when chaos struck her hectic life, there was always some kind of order to it. She made sure of that. Now, the logical, sophisticated Maura Isles was sitting on the floor of an elevator, her legs spread and her body damp with sweat. It had been a while since she had been in that position..

And her friends were dead. Cassandra and James were dead. What would happen to the babies now? Would they go into care? Would they be adopted? God forbid, they would ever go through what she did.

Her trail of thought was broken by another contraction, more painful this time. This wasn't good.

'Jane, I need you to check how dilated I am.'

'Right.. And, uh.. How do I do that?'

'Fingers.'

'You what?' Now it was Jane's turn to go pale. 'You want me to stick my fingers.. Up there?'

'Well, I don't want you to do but I don't think we have any other choice. It's either you or Frost.'

'What a choice.'

'Please Jane, just do it.'

'Okay, okay.' Jane crawled round and placed herself in front of Maura's open legs. 'I can't believe I'm doing this.'

'I really wish you didn't have to. '

'Not more than me. What do the fingers mean?'

'One finger is one centimetre.'

'Then you're about.. Eww… Uh.. Four centimetres..'

'Four?!' Maura couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'No, no, no! I can't be four centimetres already, my waters only broke twenty minutes ago.'

'I take it this is bad?' Frost asked without opening his eyes.

'It's bad. It means that if the engineer doesn't get here in the next half an hour, I'm having these babies right here.'

'Oh.. Yeah, that's bad.'

'Damn right it's bad, Frost. Isn't there anything you can do, Maura?'

'Like what, Jane?'

'I don't know, can't you just cross your legs or something?'

'Yeah, or I could use your hand to plug it up.' Maura retorted sarcastically. 'If you can't say anything useful, then please shut up.'

'Sorry.'

They sat, or in Frost's case, stood, in near silence for nearly two minutes. The only sound was Frost's heavy breathing. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack at any moment. This was clearly not a comfortable situation for him. Jane glanced over at Maura. She couldn't quite determine if the expression on her face was anger, pain or worry. She figured it must be a bit of each. Suddenly, she felt Maura grab her hand and squeeze slightly. It wasn't hard but she could tell by the look on Maura's face that it was more painful than she was letting on.

'Maura, listen to me. I'm going to be right here, okay? If you need to squeeze, hit something, scream, swear, whatever you need to do, I'm right here next to you.'

Maura nodded, catching her breath. 'Thanks.'

'No problem.'

Jane sighed and leant against the opposite wall. They _really _weren't having a good day.

Twenty five minutes later, they were still in the same position. The only difference now that Maura was much redder in the face and in a lot more pain. Plus Frost felt a little more sick.

'Frost, do you actually intend on doing something useful?' Jane asked, exasperated, as Maura groaned loudly with pain. Frost had spent the past half an hour standing flat to the wall, staring at the metal. He hadn't even dared look at the scene behind him; he didn't want to make matters worse by throwing up or fainting. The most useful thing he had done was to call downstairs three more times to check on the progress of the engineer.

'Not if you want me to stay conscious.'

'Well, you might as well not be, the amount of use you are.'

'Jane, it hurts.'

'I know honey, but you're doing so well. You're fully dilated and everything.'

'No, I can't be. I'm not ready. I can't do it here.' Maura looked ready to burst into tears.

'You can, of course you can.'

'Not now. God, I want to push..'

'Then push.'

'I can't, I'm not..'

'Just one. Do it for me honey. Do it for Cassie and James. Do it for those two little angels in there. Come on, you can do this.'

Maura nodded and, with a very unladylike grunt, pushed hard and squeezed Jane's hand tightly.

'That's it, well done. Can you do that again?'

'Not.. Now.. Need someone else..'

'For what?'

'Someone has to.. Catch the babies.. Need blankets.. Please Jane..'

'Okay honey, hang in there. Frost, you have to help me.'

'I.. I can't, I..'

'You can. Please..'

She looked up at the trembling man, who was still stood facing the wall. Not now, not when she really needed him. She stood up, turned him around, slammed him against the cold metal and slapped him smartly across the face.

'My best friend is about to give birth to twins, twins who now don't have a mother or father. There's no pain relief, no medical equipment and the only person here who knows what to do is trying to push two human beings out of her vagina. Now you get your ass on this floor with us and do something fricking useful. Understand?'

Frost nodded once, his eyes wide, and they both dropped back to the floor.

'Okay Maura, we've got a second pair of hands now. What do we do?'

'I.. Get two blankets..'

Jane grabbed the overnight bag from the corner and rummaged through. 'There isn't a blanket, just your stuff.'

'My pyjama top.. It's way too big for me, it'll work.. One more..'

'Uh..' Jane looked around. 'I don't know.. Frost, take off your jacket..'

'Huh?'

'Your jacket, now!' Jane practically ripped the jacket from his back and folded it roughly. 'This okay?'

Maura nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Good. Now what?'

'Someone.. Someone needs to support the first baby..'

'Frost, you do it.' Jane ordered. The look in her eye took him not to even try to argue and he scrambled round to position himself, kneeling between Maura's legs.

'What do I do?'

'When I.. Push.. You need to wait until you see the head…'

'I think I can do that..'

'Hold the blanket in both hands.. And put your hands out.. You need to support the head and shoulders.. Then when the rest comes out.. Use one hand to support the hips and legs..'

'You sure?'

'Sure?' Maura finally lost the ounce of patience she had left. 'I'm a fricking doctor!'

'Okay, you're sure. Sorry. Whenever you're ready.'

Maura took a deep breath and pushed again; Jane felt every tiny dose of Maura's pain.

'Good girl. One more, honey. One more.'

'I can't,' A tear rolled down Maura's cheek. 'I can't do it. I won't.'

Jane felt tears fill her own eyes but she had to stay calm for Maura. 'Yes, you can. Listen Maura, we're going to get these babies out of you one way or another. If you give up now, fine. I'll just find something to perform a caesarean with. It'll hurt even more, I'll have even less idea what I'm doing and you'll have a big ugly scar to go with your stretch marks but hey ho. Your choice.'

Maura went white, still panting hard as she deliberated. 'I hate you sometimes, you know that?'

'Yeah I know, that's absolutely fine. Now take my hand and squeeze as hard as you need to, okay?'

'Okay..' Maura said between rapid breaths. 'On my next.. Contraction.. I'm going to push..'

'Good girl. You can do this Maura, just keep breathing.'

The blonde nodded and did as she was told, pushing as hard as she could.

'Crap.. Crap, I can see the head.. It's coming..'

Jane grinned at Maura. 'See? You're doing great. One more.'

'God, it's coming.. The head's out..'

'Cord..' Maura panted, not having the energy to finish her sentence.

'Cord?'

'You need to check and see if the cord is round the baby's neck.' Jane amended. Their birthing classes had taught them that.

'Right.. No, it's fine. Keep going.'

'You heard the man, Maur, keep going.'

'I don't want to.'

'Tough. Come on. Just breathe.'

Maura let out a huge scream, which was followed shortly by a tiny crying sound.

'Maura.. Oh sweetie.. It's a girl.. Oh God.. Frost, wrap her up and come over here. I'll take over there. '

The pair swapped places, Frost being careful not to hurt Maura or the baby as he moved. He wrapped her gently in his jacket, not caring so much anymore about the state of it. If anyone had told him a couple of hours ago that by the end of the day he would have helped deliver a baby in an elevator and wrapped it in his $350 jacket, he would have laughed them out of the room.

Jane squatted where Frost had been moments before. 'Well done honey, that was amazing. Just need to get the other one out. You ready?'

A small nod from Maura told her she was and she did exactly as Frost had done. 'If you need to hold something sweetie, grab my shoulder or my hair or something. Just do whatever you need to do, okay?'

'Okay.'

Jane immediately regretted saying that Maura could pull on her hair but she didn't really have much choice. Even if she had, she wasn't going to point out that she had a headache whilst her best friend was screaming in agony.

'That's it Maura, well done. I can feel his head. One last push, sweetie. We just need a really big one, give it all you've got.'

Maura regained her breath and, with one , excruciating push, delivered a little boy into the world.

'Oh.. Wow.. He's here, Maur, they're both here.. You did it..' Jane blinked away a tear as she held the tiny boy close to her chest. 'Hang on..'

'Hang on what?' Frost was immediately concerned. 'What's wrong?'

'Frost, he's not breathing.'

'Rub him..' Maura managed to force out, despite her exhaustion. 'Rub him dry.. Make him warm..'

Jane nodded and did as Maura said, doing everything she could to make him warm. After the tensest thirty seconds of her life, another small cry filled the room.

'Yes.. He's breathing, Maur, he's crying.. It's okay.. He's okay.. You want to hold him?'

Maura was about to reply when the lift juddered again. The lights snapped back on and, without warning, they began to move down. No one said a word, just simply smiled with relief. Eventually, the doors slid open to reveal Korsak, Angela, two maintenance men, a couple of paramedics, and several officers including Frankie. All of them gaped at the sight before them.

'Wow..' Korsak said quietly. 'I'm definitely taking the stairs from now on..'


	16. Written In The Stars

**And the end is nigh, my friends. Never fear though, there's one more chapter to come after this one. **

**Own nothing. **

'How's she doing?'

Jane looked round to see her mother standing in the doorway. The paramedics had taken Maura and the babies into the hospital to be checked over. The twins had been taken straight to the NICU; the conditions of their birth and the fact that they were a couple of weeks early had the doctors concerned. Maura, on the other hand, was fast asleep in the maternity care unit. Jane had taken a seat beside her the second she had come in and she hadn't left that seat for longer than two minutes. She was determined to be there when Maura woke up.

'She's still sleeping. Did you see the babies?'

'Yeah, they let me see through the window.' Angela smiled as she sat down beside her daughter. 'They're gorgeous.'

'I know.'

'Jane, you hungry?' Korsak poked his head around the door.

'Hungry.. Uh..' Jane thought for a minute. 'Yeah.. Actually, I'm starving. I haven't eaten in seven hours. I'd kill for a coffee too.'

'I'm heading down to the canteen so I'll pick up something for you. How's Maura?'

'Fine, she's asleep.'

Korsak nodded. 'How about you, Mrs Rizzoli? Anything I can get you?'

'No thank you, Vince, I'm fine.'

'Okay. I'll be back in a bit.'

Once Korsak had disappeared, Angela turned to Jane. 'Have you told her yet?'

'Told her what?'

'Don't play ignorant, missy. Have you told Maura how you feel?'

'No Ma, of course not. She's had other things on her mind. I couldn't tell her while she was pregnant and I can't tell her now. Her friends have just died. She's got to make so many decisions now and she's got to deal with losing them.. I can't just drop this kind of bombshell on her.'

'Not even if it could give you both something you've always wanted?'

Jane hesitated. 'I'm scared she'll say no. I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if we weren't so close, but what if it gets awkward?'

'Well, I guess you're going to have to decide if she's worth the risk.' Angela put her arm around her daughter and brought her in close. 'She loves you, Jane. I know that much.'

'You really think so?'

'I do. I'm going to go get a bottle of water. I love you, baby.'

'Love you too, Ma. Thanks.'

'You're welcome, sweetheart.'

***

'Turkey sandwich, chips and a coffee. Okay?'

Jane grinned up at Korsak. 'I love you, man. How's Frost?'

'Recovering. He nearly had a panic attack earlier. I hear he did well though.'

'He did, actually. He delivered the first baby.'

'Really?'

'Uh huh. Didn't even pass out.'

Korsak chuckled. 'Good on him. Has Maura woken up at all?'

'No, she's been asleep for about three hours.'

'Three hours?'

'Well, yeah. When was the last time you pushed two 6 pound something babies out of your-?'

'Okay, only saying.'

A quiet groan from the bed made them both look over. Maura's eyelids fluttered open slowly and she looked over at the pair.

'I'll leave you two alone.' Korsak patted Jane's knee and left quickly. He didn't really fancy dealing with, what he supposed would be a weepy Maura.

'Hey you..' Jane smiled as he left, squeezing Maura's hand. 'You look better than you did a few hours ago.'

'Mmm.' Maura blinked a couple of times, adjusting to her surroundings. 'Hey.'

'You okay?'

'Yeah.' Her voice was still filled with sleep and she stifled a yawn. 'Am I thin again yet?'

Jane chuckled. 'Not quite, honey. You're still pretty fat.'

'Oh.'

'We'll get you back into shape, don't worry.'

'Okay.'

'Do you want anything?'

Maura shook her head, shuffling into her pillows. 'Thank you for helping me before.'

'You did most of the work. You did so well, Maura. I'm proud of you.'

'Thanks.' Maura smiled slightly but the smile faded from her lips. 'Did I dream it?'

'Dream what, Maur?'

'I.. Are.. Are Cassie and James really dead?' Her voice was barely a whisper.

Jane's heart melted into her stomach. She really didn't want to have to say yes but she couldn't lie to her, not now.

'Yeah, sweetie. They're gone. I'm sorry.'

The blonde nodded and a tear slipped down her cheek. 'I never told her.'

'About Senegal?'

'Mmm. I never told her the truth. Why didn't I tell her the truth?'

'Because you didn't want to upset her. Right? You kept it from her for a reason, a

good reason.'

'She died without knowing the truth. God, I.. I can't believe she's gone at all..'

'I'm so sorry, Maura. She was good person. They both were.'

'You couldn't stand James.'

'It's not that I couldn't stand him. Well, he wasn't my favourite person but he was a good guy. He respected you.'

'Well, I did carry his babies for him. Oh God, the twins.. What's going to happen to them?'

Jane shook her head. 'No idea. Maybe they'll be able to track down one of their relatives to take them.'

Maura thought for a moment. 'Maybe. Cass's parents are dead and her sister is married with three children of her own. She doesn't talk to her much anyway. James is an only child and his parents live in Australia. I don't know.'

'Care then, perhaps? They might be fostered or adopted.'

'Or they might end up stuck in the system, being passed from one social worker to another. No, I won't let that happen to them. Even adoption.. One day, those children are going to want to know where they came from. I'm not sure I could put them through all that. It hurts, believe me.'

Jane ran her thumb lightly over Maura's hand. 'You could take them.'

Maura raised her eyebrows. 'Say that again..'

'You could take them. My mother would love to help and so would I. I've practically lived with you for the past three months, I might as well stay a bit longer.'

'It's not practical. We work such long hours, Jane..'

'We'll find a way around it. We always do, Maura. That's what we do, we work things out. Right?'

'Yeah..' Maura considered Jane's proposal. 'It could work.. You really think we can do this?'

'Nope, I think we'll just blunder about, messing it up like everyone else. But we'll never know unless we try. You up for it?'

'Yeah.. Yeah, we could do this..'

'Damn right, we could. You probably need some time to think it over, I get that. But whatever you decide, I'm proud of you. I.. I love you.'

Maura smiled softly. 'I love you too.'

'No, Maura.' Jane slipped her hand away from Maura's and rested in one her arm. 'I love you. I _really _love you. More than anything else in the world. I don't know where I'd be without you. So unless you tell me not to, I'm about to kiss you.'

Maura looked surprised but she didn't say a word as Jane leaned over and planted a tender kiss on her lips.

'Like I said,' She whispered as they drew away, her breath hot against Jane's cheek. 'I love you too.'


	17. Epilogue

**Of course, I had to have an epilogue. I couldn't just leave it there. But yes, I'm afraid we've come to the end. **

**To all those who have reviewed, favourited, followed and supported - I love you all so much and thank you! If you've followed it right from the beginning.. Wow! You guys are all awesome. **

**I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Yeah, I still don't own anything.. **

Four year old Natasha and Matthew skipped happily up the driveway, each of them clinging onto one of Maura's hands. They were greeted with an open door and the smell of freshly baked cookies filled the room.

'Hey guys,' Jane Rizzoli-Isles smiled the door closed behind them. 'Did you have fun at the playground?'

The two children nodded, wide grins on their faces. Natasha had her mother's wild red curls and her father's green eyes, whilst Matthew had brown hair like James and Cassandra's bright blue eyes.

'Mommy says we're getting a new baby soon,' Matthew said excitedly. 'Is it true?'

'Sure is, little man.' Jane chuckled and scooped him up, balancing him on her hip. 'You're getting a new brother or sister.'

'Where is it?'

'It's growing in her tummy. Look.' Jane patted the tiny bump under Maura's shirt.

'How did it get there? Did she eat it?'

Jane bit her lip to repress her laughter. 'Not exactly. I'll tell you when you're older.'

'I hope it's a girl,' Natasha said dreamily, changing the subject. 'Boys smell.'

Maura rolled her eyes. 'But you'll be a good big sister either way, right? You'll help us feed and bathe them? Give them lots of cuddles?'

'Will I have to change their diapers?'

'No sweetie,' Maura chuckled. 'Maybe when you're a bit older.'

'Ewww.'

'We had to do it for you guys when you were babies.'

'If it cries a lot,' Matthew began tentatively. 'Can we send it back and get a new one?'

'Matthew!' Maura was shocked but Jane simply chuckled and placed him back on the ground.

'I don't think so, kiddo. Why don't you two go and see Grandma Rizzoli? She's in the kitchen. I think she might have some cookies for you two.'

The twins squealed and sprinted off into the kitchen, leaving the couple alone in the living room.

'You okay, sweetie?' Jane asked, pulling Maura close to her.

'Yeah, of course. The twins just ran me around a bit today. I'm fine.'

'Good. Can't have my pregnant princess all worn out.'

Maura smiled and kissed her wife. 'If it's twins again, I'm going to kill you.'

'Why me?'

'Because I'm pregnant and I have every right to be completely unreasonable.'

'Déjà vu much.'

'Very funny. This time, I'm staying away from elevators.'

'Please, for everyone's sake.'

'I hear that Frost only just stopped having nightmares from last time.'

Jane smiled and brushed a loose curl away from Maura's face. 'I love you, Maura.'

'I love you too, Jane.'

**That's all folks! Until next time, that's me done. So long.. **


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